Apple, Samasung want to end patent war

According to sources, the companies are in working-level discussions in which the primary issue involves dismissing all the lawsuits. The talk of a settlement opened up again after Apple Inc. was found to have infringed on a few Samsung products during a recent trial. It is important to note that although both tech companies coughed up money for damages, Samsung paid significantly more. While Apple paid up $158,000 in damages, Samsung chipped in $119.6 million. Samsung’s damages were reduced on appeal.This source also notes that should the deal come to fruition, royalty payments may be made in return for patents owned by both companies. Last Friday, Apple and Google announced plans to drop all current lawsuits, even though Apple Inc. never directly sued Google Inc. The Cupertino-based tech giant has been targeting Android smartphone makers like Samsung.

The unnamed source explained, “Samsung has recently resumed working-level discussions with Apple Inc. and the key issue is how to dismiss all lawsuits. Some more time will be needed to fix terms of details such as royalty payments in return for using patents owned by each before reaching a full agreement.”

Not surprisingly, Google Inc has remained on Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd’s side throughout the matter. The search giant has aided the Android phone maker with legal counseling and promised to help pay monetary damages if Samsung suffered from a big setback in court.

Patent property expert Florian Mueller believes a settlement could be reached relatively soon. He explained Apple does not have an endgame strategy and the iPhone maker is just looking for a way to finalize the entire matter. He also predicts Apple Inc. will want a one-time settlement payment from Samsung.